QuickLogic Wearable Solutions Include Hardware & Software

Wearable products and systems are a huge trend at the moment, with exciting devices being introduced on a daily basis. Key to these innovations are smart, always-on sensors coupled with ultra-low-power designs.

Next-generation devices with be both environmentally and contextually aware. They will know if we are walking, running, or riding a bike. They will know if they are in our hands, in a packet, or in a purse. They will know if we've fallen over or if we've been involved in a car crash. (If we are not moving, they may call 911 automatically on our behalf.)

Another aspect of all this is sensor fusion, which involves combining and processing the raw data coming out of multiple sensors to generate useful information. Since the sensors must always be on, this mandates the use of an ultra-low-power sensor hub that can monitor the sensors and process their data, waking the power-hungry host application processor only when its attention is required.

To address these requirements, QuickLogic has just announced the immediate availability of its S1 Wearables Sensor Hub.

Consuming less than 250 microwatts of active power, this sensor hub platform is processor-, sensor-, and algorithm-agnostic, supporting multiple modes such as walking, running, cycling, in-vehicle, on-person, and not-on-person.

As part of its wearable solutions, QuickLogic has also announced the immediate availability of its new wearable-specific sensor hub gesture algorithms: Tap-to-Wake and Rotate-Wrist-to-Wake.

These algorithms, which enable wearable devices to respond to user movements and gestures without waking up the host application processor, are included as standard features in the S1 Wearables Sensor Hub.

When I saw the photo of the two models looking intently at strange 20th Century devices wrapped around their wrists, I thought it might be more strategic for QuickLogic to target 21st Century applications. What's next, using a disco ball to mount a whole-room scanner?

I never liked wearing a watch. My wife boiught be one as an engagement gift. I wore it for about a year, then put it away forever. That was long before I had a phone. If you don;t carry a timekeeper, you develop an acute sense of time. Plus, I had a clock in my car and since I was usually driving when time mattered, I had a timekeeper then.